Many electronic devices maintain a data log of information to keep a record of their operational status, use history, and other parameters. Such electronic devices can be used for controlling a variety of operations, such as transmitting data. In the context of electronic medical devices such as infusion pumps and the like, they may be used for dispensing or releasing medicaments, including fluids and other materials such as insulin and related medicaments. The data log may provide, for example, a history of transmitted or received data, data associated with substances or fluids such as on-board and dispensed volume, composition, lot number, and other characteristics, as well as operational parameters relating to transmitting, dispensing or releasing such substances or fluids. These electronic devices may not include sufficient memory to maintain a running, cumulative record of these data over an extended time period, or there may be a need for such cumulative data or other non-cumulative data to be backed-up, mirrored, or simply stored elsewhere for archival or other purposes. Therefore, these data may be maintained at one or more locations that are remote from the device, such as, e.g., a remote computing device or a network data storage facility that may have more extensive data storage capacity than that on the electronic device. As the device continues to operate, data such as those comprising a data log and/or other operational information (which such operational information may or may not be in a data log) may need to be sent to, transferred to, or otherwise maintained at a remote location such as a network data storage site to meet various needs of the users of and manufacturers of such devices.
In most cases, privacy concerns for the data generated by the electronic device will encourage careful control of access to such data by using a variety of authorization schemes. If the device is used for medical or patient care purposes, then such privacy and other data security concerns may mandate data security schemes. In the U.S., for example, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996 established national standards for electronic health care transactions and for the security and privacy of health data. Other such privacy mandates for patient-related and consumer-related data exist outside the U.S. as well.
For example, portable medicament infusion devices, such as infusion pumps, are used to regulate the dispensing of fluids such as insulin and other medicaments to a patient. These electronic devices may be in constant or frequent operation and may store data relating to, e.g., the dispensing of medicaments such as insulin to the patient, data relating to various operational parameters of the pump, and the like. Such data, particularly if it is cumulative in nature, may be more than can be accurately and safely stored in the memory of the infusion device itself. It may also be desired to store all or selected portions of such data at one or more alternative sites such as, e.g., a remote computing device or a network data storage facility. Such remote locations may be used to archive such data, enable analysis thereof for the patient, the health care provider, the manufacturer, and even government regulatory authorities, and for other purposes. It is therefore desirable to maintain some or all of such data in a format that is available to meet such needs.
It is known to establish and use network data facilities for storage of data such as portable insulin pump data. Access to such data, however, can be cumbersome and protracted. In some cases, access to the network stored data requires the presence of the actual insulin pump at the computer or other device being used to obtain access. In other cases, data transfer can be a relatively slow and cumbersome process. Moreover, once access to such data is granted and an authorized communication path is established, it may be desirable or necessary to carefully control such access so that third parties are not able to use the communication path to gain unauthorized access to the data.
Easier access to the network stored data and more secure data transfer are desired improvements. The present invention addresses these needs.